Not Quite a Phoenix
by Screechingfalcn
Summary: Being in the nightmare court has its ups, downs, and outs if you're lucky enough.
1. Awakening

He opened his eyes, and there was still darkness. But there were sounds and a lot of them. Looking around he found there was no one near by. Taking his first step he struggled to stand and fell to one knee. He took a breath and pushed himself to stand up and managed to stay balanced this time. Before him was a large leaf and slightly to the left he saw a road. A gush of wind brushed against him and he shivered. Breaking his gave from the road he looked around now that his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. He paced a bit, keeping his eyes on the road. Stopping he thought for a moment and looked down at himself, he blended in except for some dim markings on his arms and chest. Bright red glow emanated from his legs and arms. Finally making up his mind he took one last look around and made for the road.

The sun began to rise. The newborn Sylvari raised a hand up to protect his eyes from the sun; he looked around and saw an opening to a cave. He dashed in and things quickly became dark again. Then after a bit of jogging and tripping and hurting and falling, he began to see a dim purple light coming from deeper in the cave. Slowing down he followed the light and eventually reached a large cavern, in the middle was a dome made up of thorns and brambles that fell in through a hole in the ceiling along with the dim purple light. It was damp but not cold he liked the way it felt. Then he heard things he had never heard before curiously, he made his way to the dome. There was a gap in the dome and he stepped through. He saw things that were like him, things he had seen in the dream. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at him. They all looked at each other and made a noise he had never heard before. One walked over to him and put its arm around him, it was like him but different. It put an arm around him and did something with its head. He looked at the others whatever they were, he liked them.


	2. Day 3

It was his third day after waking up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the purple lit thorn-dome, it was only him. Sitting up he reached his arms above his head and stretched before standing up. He smiled to himself and looked down, then closed his eyes. When he opened them again he had another layer of leaves, thorn, and brambles covering his torso down to his feet. His smile slightly grew larger and he again looked around the room. He rolled his shoulders and walked around the open room a little bit, pausing at a rack of weapons. Glancing around he grabbed a bow, some arrows, and quiver. Slinging the quiver over his head and shoulder he held the arrows in his right hand and the bow in his left. Taking a deep breath he made it way to outside of the thorn-dome to where they had been showing him how to shoot. There was a table for him to place his bow on while he places the arrows into the quiver on his back. He paused a moment before picking the bow back up to place a hand over his bioluminescence. Straightening his back he picked the bow off the table and held it like they had shown him to. Nocking an arrow he lifted the bow and pulled the string back to his cheek, he paused and let loose of the string. It hit his inner forearm on his left arm and the arrow missed. Cringing he placed the bow down and opened and closed his fist a few times. Taking a breath he picked the bow up again, and repeated the process. This time he took a deep breath and held the string at his cheek for a moment before letting it loosed. It hit the outer side of the target. He lowered the bow and grinned. Again he fired an arrow, holding his breath for a moment before firing. He repeated the process getting a bit more accurate with each shot before when he reached for another arrow there weren't any left. He took the quiver off his back and placed it along with the bow on the table before walking around it to collect the arrows he had fired. the pulled them from the target, and found that one of the arrows he had missed was slightly cracked so he tossed it to the side.

He grabbed his bow and quiver as he walked back into the thorn-dome. He placed them back where they had been and sighed. He paced around a bit before drinking some water. As he was taking a drink he heard someone behind him.  
"Hey, sapling" he glanced over his shoulder and thought for a moment,  
"Thats me right?" he said turning around. A female Sylvari was in the doorway to the thorn-dome and began to walk towards him. She nodded in response "Who else would it be?" He takes a look around "Good point." She shook her head and pushes a leaf out of her eyes. "The others are out recruiting for today and tomorrow" he thinks for a moment before responding "Do they not trust me to be here alone?" Again she shook her head "You haven't really earned our trust yet." He nods, the female Sylvari looks him over and squints at him "Whats your name sapling?" he stared at her blankly "What is it that people call you?" he blinks "Well im Cas, its what others call me when i meet them, you need a name don't you?" he blinks again, she shakes her head.


	3. Naming

He squinted at the sun as they exited the cave. Cas put her hands on her hips and waited for his eyes to adjust. It took a little bit, but once he was able to see he walked alongside Cas. She looked up at him "Ready?" he nodded. Looking forward she began to walk, he followed her.

"Where are we going?" he asked her after a little bit

"Divinity's Reach!" She chirped. He looked at her blankly "Its a city directly north of the Grove' she gestured to him 'where you awoke from 3 days ago." He nodded and caught a glimpse of something flutter off to the side. He stopped and watched it for a moment "What was that?" he asked Cas without turning to her "That was a falcon, a type of bird" he looked over his shoulder "Thats what i want my name to be"

"Falcon you mean?" he nods. She shrugs "If thats what you want" he nods "It is."

"Well then, Falcon, would you like to go to Divinity's Reach?" He nods excitedly, she smiles gently up at him "Lets go then!"


End file.
